Grip hold plier for small assemblies



March 31, 1964 J. RAMGE GRIP HOLD PLIER FOR SMALL ASSEMBLIES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 16, 1962 March 31, 1964 J. RAMGE 3,126,775

' GRIP HOLD PLIER FOR SMALL ASSEMBLIES Filed April 16, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVEN TOR.

- Jag/r 24 1 2 United States Patent 3,126,775 GRIP HOLD PLIER FOR SMALL ASSEMBLIES John Ramge, RED. 2, Pound Ridge, NY. Filed Apr. 16, 1962, Ser. No. 187,792 4 Claims. (Cl. 81-618) It is Well known to those skilled in the art that in the handling of various work or parts during certain assembly operation hand pliers are employed wherein the worker must align the work or parts in a correct position relative to each other between the jaws of the pliers, after which the parts must be firmly gripped so that they will not become misaligned, following which an assembly operation is performed, such as soldering, bending, incorporating with still another part, or the like. In many instances, after aligning the parts in the plier jaws, the worker is required to temporarily relieve his grasp of the plier so as to use his hand for other purposes prior to performing the assembly operation, such as reaching for a soldering tool, another part or the like, during which time the held parts sometimes misalign, thereby interrupting the normal subsequent procedure of the assembly operation. The present invention eliminates this undesirable situation.

Accordingly it is one object of the present invention to provide a hand plier tool having means to grip an object and hold it in an assigned position, even though the operator may temporarily relieve his grasp of the plier.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a hand operated plier tool having means to temporarily hold an object in an assigned position and having separate means to then grip the object in a relatively strong manner.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a grip hold plier having means whereby the temporary hold is accomplished by a simple movement of a single finger and the subsequent strong grip is accomplished by a trigger squeezing action by the other fingers of the same hand.

Another object of the invention is to provide a grip hold plier having adjustment means for application of the device upon objects of various dimensions.

Still another object is to provide a grip hold plier having knife means for cutting cross-sectionally a metal wire placed between the jaws thereof.

Other objects are to provide a grip hold plier having the above recited characteristics which is designed to be made of a minimum number of parts which is rugged in construction, simple to use and eiiicient in operation.

These, and other objects will be readily apparent upon a study of the following specification wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of the invention showing the jaws thereof in fully spread-apart position;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross sectional view taken through the line 22 of FIG. 1 and looking into the direction of the arrows thereof;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary side elevational view similar to FIG. 1, however showing the device with the front cover plate removed therefrom, and indicating the jaws in fully spread apart position;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 showing the device adjusted into an initial position to hold an object between the jaws;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4 showing the device adjusted into a subsequent position to firmly grip or squeeze the object between its jaws; 1

FIG. 6 is a perspective exploded view showing the various parts that comprise the elements of the present device and indicating by phantom lines the relative positions of the elements respective to the connecting rivet;

FIG. 7 shows one position of the elements of the device wherein the jaws are in fully closed position;

3,126,775 Patented Mar. 31, 1964 FIG. 8 shows another position of the elements wherein the jaws are also in fully closed position; and

FIG. 9 is a cross sectional view through the lines 99 of FIG. 1 as viewed in the direction of the arrows thereof.

Referring now to the drawing in detail the numeral 10 represents a grip hold plier according to the present invention wherein there are a pair of cover plates 11 between which the working mechanism of the plier is located. This working mechanism is comprised of an upper jaw element 12, a lower jaw element 13, a spring 14, a cam 15 for actuating the upper jaw element and a trigger operated cam 16 for actuating the lower jaw element as shown in FIGURE 6.

The upper jaw element is made preferably of a pair of inch thick steel plates 17 in fixed adjacent relationship and having an additional jaw shim 18 of the sarne thickness of material on each outer side so as to provide a jaw of one-eighth inch total width, the parts being fastened together by means of rivets 19. A transverse opening 26 is provided at the rearward end for receiving a pin 21 therethrough and about which the jaw element pivots. An arcuate cam following face 22 is provided on the upper side which is engaged by the periphery 23 of the cam 15. The bottom side 24 is in frictional contact with the bowed portion 25 of spring 14, as shown in FIGURES 2, 3, 4 and 5.

The lower jaw element is also made of similar material of the same thickness and comprising end plates 26 having a pair of jaw spacers 27 therebetween to provide a jaw of total width which is the same as the upper jaw, all the parts being fastened together by means of rivets 28. An arcuate cam follower face 29 as provided on the bottom sides of each plate 26 which is engaged by the periphery 30 of the trigger cam. A transverse opening 31 is provided at the rearward end for receiving pin 21 therethrough and about which the jaw element pivots. It is to be noted that space 32 between plates 26 is of a width equivalent to the thickness of the rearward portion of the upper jaw element which is accordingly located therebetween (see FIGURE 2).

The cam 15 has a transverse opening 33 which is eccentric to periphery 23 and which is for the purpose of receiving a pin 34 therethrough about which the cam pivots. An arcuate slot 35 is provided through which a pin 36 extends and which does not have any influence on the cam, the slot serving only as a clearance for the pin passing therethrough. A serrated edge 37 is provided for purpose of frictional engagement with a persons finger in operation, as shown in FIGURE 4. The cam is made from one-sixteenth inch thick steel.

The trigger operated cam, made of similar material, is comprised of a pair of end plates 38, each of one-thirtysecond inch thickness and having a one-sixteenth inch thick spacer 39 therebetween. The parts are fixed together by means of rivets 40. A transverse opening 41 which is eccentric relative to periphery 30, is provided in each of the end plates for receiving pin 36 therethrough and about which the cam trigger pivots. An arcuate slot 42 is provided in each end plate through which pin 34 extends without having any influence on the cam, the slot serving only as a clearance for the pin passing therethrough. It is to be noted that space 43 between the end plates if of a width equivalent to the thickness of the cam 15 which is accordingly located therebetween. The depending portion 44 serves as a lever or trigger operated by a persons finger as shown in FIGURE 5.

The cover plates are each provided with transverse openings 45, 46 and 47 through which pins 21, 34 and 36 respectively extend, as shown in FIGURE 6. There are three additional pins 48 which extend transversely through the cover plates and a spacer 49 located between the cover plates. The purpose of these pins is solely for holding the assembly intact. Unlike pins 21, 34 and 36 they do not serve as pivots for any of the working mechanism. All of the above mentioned six pins are peened over at their ends after assembly as shown in FIGURE 2. The spacer 49 and cover plates have openings 50 through which the pins 48 extend. The depend ing portions 51 of each cover plate and the spacer therebetween form a handle 52 for the assembled tool.

The spacer 49 formed from a pair of one-sixteenth inch thick plates in adjacent relationship is provided with an open end slot 53 within which one end 54 of the spring is anchored. The other end 55 of the spring is fitted into a space 56 formed between the lower edge of jaw spacers 27 and a rivet 57 which extends transversely between the spaced apart end plates 26, as shown in FIGURES 3, 4 and 5.

The innermost end of the mouth 58 formed by the two jaws is provided with a wire cutter 59. This wire cutter is comprised of a knife 60 on one jaw and an anvil 61 and relief notch 62 in the other jaw, as shown in FIGURE 9. Upon forcing the jaws into closed position, a wire extending transversely across the anvil is accordingly cut in two.

In operative use, to hold and grip an object 62, the tool is manipulated in a manner as shown in FIGURES 3, 4 and 5. In normally open-jaw position, as shown in FIGURE 3, the cam 15 (herein referred to as the cam) has its serrated edge in rearmost position, and the trigger cam lever is in forwardmost position. When it is desired that an object or plurality of objects be held between the jaws, the cam is rotated about pin 34 by moving thumb 63 forwardly along the serrated edge, as shown in FIG- URE 4. This causes the cam to pivot the upper jaw downwardly closing the mouth against the object which is now in held position. Due to the relatively small dis tance of the pivot pin 34 from the true center of the arcuate periphery 23 and the relatively long frictional contact surfaces between the cam and face 22, the held position will be retained even though a person releases his finger from the serrated edge. Following this, a more firm grim on the object is obtained as shown in FIGURE wherein the trigger cam lever is pivoted rearwardly about pin 36 thereby causing the trigger cam to pivot the lower jaw upwardly and squeezing the object as shown. The lever is actuated by finger 64. Due to the relatively small distance of the pivot pin 36 from the true center of the arcuate periphery 39 and the relatively long frictional contact surfaces between the trigger cam periphery 30 and face 29, the grip position will be retained even though a person releases his finger from the trigger cam lever. Thus, a person has his hands free for other purposes while the object remains securely gripped.

To release the device, the lever 44 is pushed slightly forward. This will start the jaw opening movement. As soon as the lever is slightly moved, the spring then takes over, forcing the jaws to spread apart. It is to be noted that the forward portion of the how 25 serves to push the bottom jaw downward while the rear portion of the bow serves to push the top jaw upward.

In FIGURES 7 and 8 two different settings of the cam and trigger cam are shown, wherein in each case the jaws can be brought into closed position with both jaws in parallel relationship. Accordingly in any position of these cams the jaws can close parallel to each other.

While various changes may be made in the detail construction, it shall be understood that such changes shall be within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.

Having thus set forth my invention, what I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a grip hold plier the combination of a pair of spaced apart cover plates forming a housing, and a working mechanism therebetween, said mechanism comprising an upper jaw element, a lower jaw element, a first cam for moving said upper jaw element toward a closed position with said lower jaw element, a second cam for moving said lower jaw element toward a closed position with said upper jaw element, said first cam including a portion adapted to be actuated by the thumb of an operators hand, actuating means for said second cam including a finger receiving portion extending therefrom, each of said cams being mounted pivotally free on a pin extending transversely through each of said cams, each of said pins being supported at each end in one of said cover plates and each of said cams having a relatively circular periphery, the center of said periphery being relatively close to the center of said pivot pin.

2. In a grip hold plier the combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein said cams are laterally adjacent each other and said pivot pins are relatively close to each other, each of said cams having a clearance slot therethrough for the pivot pin of the other said cam.

3. In a grip hold plier the combination as set forth in claim 2 wherein each of said jaw elements comprises a jaw at one end, an opening at the opposite end for receiving a common pivot pin therethrough said common pivot pin being supported at each end in one of said cover plates, said jaw elements each being pivotable about said common pin and each of said jaw elements having an approximate semicircular cam follower face, said face being in frictional engagement with one of said cams.

4. In a grip hold plier the combination as set forth in claim 3 wherein a bowed spring urges said jaw elements toward a normally spread apart position, one end portion of said bow urging one of said jaw elements and the other end portion of said how urging the other of said jaw elements, one terminal end of said spring being held by said housing and the other being held by one of said jaw elements.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,104,495 Hansen July 21, 1914 1,288,079 McClean Dec. 17, 1918 2,583,346 Sprunger Jan. 22, 1952 2,668,463 Archer Feb. 9, 1954 

1. IN A GRIP HOLD PLIER THE COMBINATION OF A PAIR OF SPACED APART COVER PLATES FORMING A HOUSING, AND A WORKING MECHANISM THEREBETWEEN, SAID MECHANISM COMPRISING AN UPPER JAW ELEMENT, A LOWER JAW ELEMENT, A FIRST CAM FOR MOVING SAID UPPER JAW ELEMENT TOWARD A CLOSED POSITION WITH SAID LOWER JAW ELEMENT, A SECOND CAM FOR MOVING SAID LOWER JAW ELEMENT TOWARD A CLOSED POSITION WITH SAID UPPER JAW ELEMENT, SAID FIRST CAM INCLUDING A PORTION ADAPTED TO BE ACTUATED BY THE THUMB OF AN OPERATOR''S HAND, ACTUATING MEANS FOR SAID SECOND CAM INCLUDING A FINGER RECEIVING PORTION EXTENDING THEREFROM, EACH OF SAID CAMS BEING MOUNTED PIVOTALLY FREE ON A PIN EXTENDING TRANSVERSELY THROUGH EACH OF SAID CAMS, EACH OF SAID PINS BEING SUPPORTED AT EACH END IN ONE OF SAID COVER PLATES AND EACH OF SAID CAMS HAVING A RELATIVELY CIRCULAR PERIPHERY, THE CENTER OF SAID PERIPHERY BEING RELATIVELY CLOSE TO THE CENTER OF SAID PIVOT PIN. 